“The hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you” So I got up and went out to the plain,. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar river, and I fell facedown.”
Ezekiel 3:22-23
At various times in my life I have felt God calling me into a place set apart from the busyness of life and ministry to wait on Him, to worship and pray, but much more than that, to listen. This is the hardest thing for us to do as we are tempted to think that God has abandoned us when we don’t hear immediately and powerfully. People may criticise us for being “too heavenly minded” when we shut ourselves away with God. They tell us it is more important to be out there witnessing or meeting practical needs. They say Jesus would be in the bars and clubs or on the streets, but Jesus also spent time completely alone with his Father. Even prayer meetings cannot take the place of this intimate communion with God, but we need patience and determination to quiet our buzzing minds and fidgety bodies to enter into this place.
I have tried and failed to sustain this many times, giving in to doubt and fear even after hearing God’s whisper. I have doubted my experience and worried that I would enter a realm from which there is no return, only to find myself drawn back over and over to seek the only One who can fill my heart. I no longer care about the accusations or the feelings of inadequacy, I have so little time in this life to pursue the One who I will spend eternity with and don’t want to waste one more day on trivialities. I am tired of trying to please others and become who they want me to be. I must know His heart and feel His love. Only then can I really become who He wants me to be and do what He wants me to do. Only then will I have something of value to give to others. Then my studies will have life and revelation and my prayers will have power.
God is calling us into the desert, not as a punishment, but away from the distractions, into the waste places, alone in His presence, where we can focus on Him. He speaks to us at other times, in other ways, but there are times He wants to call us aside, and we will miss these moments if we do not respond to the call.
When everything else is stripped away we are exposed with nothing to hide us from His gaze. As we stand vulnerable and alone in the heat of His presence all the rubbish is burned up and our motives are purified. We cannot use our usually tactics to impress, we cannot fool God with our outward show, we can only be who we are. If we determine to stay in this place He will pour out refreshing living water.
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:29-31
When we stay in the secret place with God we are strengthened and revived. We seek a great revival but we cannot make it happen by our efforts, however sincere or hard working we are. We must begin in the place of knowing our weakness and receiving His strength, receiving His guidance. We pray that God would rend the heavens and come down (Isaiah 61:1) but we must do things God’s way if we want His intervention (v5) All our efforts are like filthy rags, God sees our hidden motives and our selfish desires.
We are called to regularly sit in His presence where He highlights our hidden sin and weaknesses. There, in that place, alone with God, we align our will to His, just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemene. There the battle is won and the issue is settled. Then we walk it out.
